Careers Related to Economics

Economics is part of the liberal arts tradition and thus is NOT vocational training or preparation for a specific job. Instead, an undergraduate degree in Economics provides you with background knowledge and critical thinking skills relevant to a huge range of professions.

Economics graduates are in considerable demand by both the private and public sectors. Large corporations, retail firms, and financial intermediaries hire economics majors to fill a variety of entry-level administrative and financial positions, sometimes even before they finish their degrees. If you are interested in policy issues, then you might want to look at employment with a governmental agency or a firm which contracts with government. Federal, state, and local governments employ economics majors to assist with research tasks and to assume managerial and administrative responsibilities. Research organizations, consulting firms, and public interest groups also actively recruit Economics majors. Those with high grades in quantitative courses have the best employment prospects.

If you want to be a professional economist, you will most likely need graduate level training. Economists with master's degrees often find jobs with government agencies or consulting firms working on empirical studies. For those achieving doctoral degrees in Economics, the principal career options are teaching, research, and administration. See the link to Graduate Study in Economics for more information on preparing for graduate school.